Finding a security in Christ

Some, God speaks to through visions
Some, God speaks to through emotion
Some, God speaks to through others
Me, God speaks to through his Word.

I am going through the book of Ezekiel right now. I don't know a lot about him other than what i've read so far but he was a prophet and God spoke to him in visions. I know i've had a hard time understanding what it means to hear God speak to me, to have a 'conversation' with God. The way people have said it made it sound like they say something and then God answers them in their head- like a quiet voice speaking. That doesn't happen to me so I sometimes say- God, why don't you respond to me? I'm calling and i don't hear you saying anything back.

recently i've realized that the way God communicates to his people vary from person to person. To explain the blurb above- Some people converse with God like Ezekiel did. They pray, God shows them- whether that means an actual vision or hearing God audibly in their head. Some people converse with God through feelings and emotion. Sometimes people get an intense feeling to go a certain direction. Some people converse with God through others. They pray, God answers them through another man's mouth. I'm not sure if this is necessarily exclusive to a certain group of people (actually none of them are exclusive- sometimes God switches it up on you) but i bet there are some people who always seem to find themselves getting unusual answers from people they didn't expect to get answers from.

But Some, like myself, converse with God through scripture. I've realized that God usually, if not always, answers me through his word. I pray, I read scripture, and God answers. It's kind of silly but being in a Pentecostal church and hearing people prophesy and speak in tongues all around you can be disheartening when God has given you a more reserved spirit. But God is helping me come to terms with that- to accept the spiritual gifts he has blessed me with so i may use them to further his Kingdom.

Even though i do not fully understand it yet, i know there is a reason i cannot speak in tongues, why i am not as emotionally 'in-tune' as other people, and why i have no period of darkness in my past- it's preparation.

I am actively waiting and i'm finding peace in that,
May there be peace with you as well.

Welcome Wagon

I am very excited! after months of searching, i have stumbled upon a band that matches up with my taste in music but have lyrics that satisfy me as well.
it's a pastor and wife duet who go by the name Welcome Wagon.
Sold! To the Nice Rich Man (i guess this is what most would call a Praise Song- it gets better as it goes along :P) is good.
And i also enjoy There is a Fountain Filled With Blood
You Made my Day is ok. Though it's like it get's a little to folksy for me then they pull it back right after the 'ew, country' feeling.



















Apparently they were produced by Sufjan Stevens (shocker right?). But speaking about SS, he made a song that i found pleasing to the soul.
You are the Blood-



sorry for the unexciting video- there wasn't much i could do.
Both Sufjan and WW's style are acquired tastes i think. I know it took me a while to realize that i did actually like Sufjan Stevens and i know i wouldn't have warmed up to Welcome Wagon as quickly if it wan't for him.

I hope this music has blessed you as much as it has blessed me
Peace be With You.

"When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood."

Ezekiel 3:18

"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood."

Ezekiel 3:20

Reaching

i took this picture on saturday. I don't know what it is about it, but I just felt like sharing it:














God has been really stretching me and allowing me to grow in so many areas. I've been seeing him answer prayers in others and making me a better servant in him. Today at church my pastor did a message about Lazarus (John 11:1-45) and his death. This scripture spoke to me like it never had before:

"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in the spirit and troubled." John 11:33

God doesn't enjoy seeing us in our difficult spots. I know there have been nights where i am weeping and crying out to God, "Lord why make me go through this pain! I'm hurting inside, where are you????" But i never saw him as being there and crying too because he sees me, his daughter who has faith in him but doesn't understand why she's going through this pain. I can just hear him saying, 'i know it hurts and i know you don't understand but you have to trust me, you will be better off in the end. It'll be over soon, just keep pushing through this hard time, i'm still here.'

It's like a mother who knows that their infant child is sick and needs surgery in order to get better, but the problem is the child has to be awake for the procedure. I could just imagine seeing a poor innocent child, looking up at me with fear and helplessness crying out because it hurts and they don't understand why I as it's mother, who says i love them, is allowing this pain into their life. I would probably cry with my child. holding their hand and trying to comfort them as they go through the surgery- telling them it will be over soon. Sure i could stop the doctors from doing their job but i know that she would be worse off later- and would probably have to suffer even more- than if we took care of the sickness now.

That realization brought me to tears today. Knowing that God would sit along side me and weep because I, his daughter whom he loves, is weeping too.

Jesus, no matter how much it hurt to see his followers weep the death of their good friend, had to let Lazarus die so that the people there and us today would know that Jesus can conquer even the most impossible of situations; not even death itself can stop our God from working in our lives. the little suffering of the people then was made up with a deepened relationship with Jesus and the miracle of raising a more than dead person lead to more people putting their faith in Christ.

The Next Level

I've been just so busy these past few weeks- i started a new summer class and it literally eats up my life. However- i have still been able to do my devo's pretty frequently without having to blog about it so i'm going to say that i'm making progress^_^

At this rate, i'll be able to just blog about the random things that come in my head without having to leave a long list of verses from backed up days and whatnot's.

Nothing much to say other than i'm a page away from finishing that bible journal and i've already bought a new one that's more than ready to take it's place.

Instead of putting down ALL the verses i have written down so far (cause that's a butt load...) i'll just put up the ones i really REALLY liked.

"Though I an free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible."
1 Corinthians 9:19
~Paul talking about his role as a preacher of the Word

"To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some."
1 Corinthians 9:22

^"1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ²They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. ⁶Now these things occurred as examples^a]">[a] to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did."
1 Corinthians 10:1-6

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
1 Corinthians 10:13

"'Everything is permissible'- but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'- but not everything is constructive"
1 Corinthians 11:23

"In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."
1 Corinth 11:11&12

"therefore my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues."
1 Corinthians 14:39

"we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
2 Corinthians 5: 20a

" ⁸I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."
2 Corinthians 8:8&9

"For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men."
2 corinthians 8:21

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
2 Corinthians 9:11
~'us' being Paul and his crew- one of the things Paul did as he visited different churches was fund raise so that he could spread the wealth to the churches that needed it.

Peace be with you.